Hispanic Heritage Month Talk for Pearson Education

Gave a 1-hour presentation alongside Josh Torres, which included time for audience Q&A.

Format

• 45 minutes of fireside chat
• 15 minutes of Q&A

Audience

PRIME is dedicated to celebrating and providing a platform for Pearson employees that are racially and ethnically diverse.

There were ~25 employees in attendance.

Topics Covered

• career journey (challenges and successes)
• best practices for establishing/growing your Latinx ERG, Fuego
• plugging into global community of Latinx professionals, Techqueria
• personal journey as a Latinx professional in tech
• Fuego ERG
• Techqueria – community
• fireside chat
• technical side
• DEI Progression and commitment
• increasing diverse representation in certain roles

Questions Covered

• [Josh to Frances] How would you sum up your identity in a Tweet?
• [Frances to Josh] And Josh, same question for you — how would you sum up your identity with just a Tweet?
• [Josh to Frances] Frances, you are a first-generation Latina on building your career in Tech. Could you tell us what were the main challenges or barriers that you faced as such?
• [Frances to Josh] How has being a Queer Puerto Rican played a role in your development as a leader?
• [Josh to Frances] So shifting gears a bit, I want to talk about your ERG leadership work. You previously co-led the Fuego ERG at Slack which is the employee resource group for Latinx and Hispanic employees. How were you able to jumpstart that during the pandemic?
• [Frances to Josh] Based on your experience with ERGs, what are your thoughts on how ERGs should be supported and structured inside tech companies?
• [Frances] What advice do you have to share with other Latinx employees who want to start an ERG at their companies?
• [Frances to Josh] You’re currently a board advisor for Techqueria – could you describe in a few words what Techqueria is, and what is its mission and purpose?
• [Josh to Frances] Let’s talk about how your involvement in the DE&I area started… What are the things that you saw or experienced in your career -or personally- that fueled the desire of doing something for the Latinx community and other groups?
• [Frances to Josh] And how did you get involved as a board advisor for Techqueria? And why did it feel important to get involved?
• [Josh to Frances] What could people at Pearson do to help Techqueria or the Latinx community in tech, in general?
• [Frances to Josh] Okay Josh, I know we’re nearing our time for Q&A. Any final pieces of advice you want folks to take away from this conversation?
• [Josh to Frances] And to add on to that – any last words of wisdom for employees at Pearson?
• [Josh] Okay let’s break for Q&A. Please type into chat any questions you have for either me or Frances or feel to come off of mute and ask your question to us directly